Blog: the Beatles play LA for Xbox 360

The stars came out for Microsoft's Xbox 360 today as the company announced the latest games and developments for its video games console.

The two surviving Beatles, Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, followed Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison on to the stage to announce the September 9 release for their version of the Rock Band video game, which will coincide with the re-release of the entire Beatles back catalogue on CD.

The new game will contain 45 Beatles hits spanning the band's career and players will, in true Rock Band style, play and sing along using guitars, microphones and drums connected to their Xbox 360s.

But the most extraordinary appearance of the morning was that of Steven Spielberg. The film director introduced a new system of games control, which Microsoft is calling Project Natal - a box that connects directly to an Xbox 360 console and contains a camera and motion detectors, meaning that people can play video games without the need for any controller.

"The only way to bring interactive technology to everyone is to make the technology invisible," the director told the audience at the Galen Centre in Los Angeles. "Imagine the fun you could have with something that recognises not only your thumbs and your wrists, but your entire being."

The demonstration resembled a scene out of Spielberg's film Minority Report, with players browsing the contents of their Xbox 360 with a series of hand gestures. Game demonstrations included a 3D ball-kicking game which would give players a full body workout in a similar way to Nintendo's hugely successful Wii Fit program, but without the need for any of the Nintendo accessories.

The show closed with a demonstration from the celebrated British game designer Peter Molyneux, who showcased a concept game using Project Natal in which the game character and the player could interact. At one point, the player drew a picture on a piece of paper. Natal's camera scanned it as it was passed to the TV screen, where it appeared moments later in the hands of the virtual character.

Project Natal is still under development and no launch date has been set, although Don Mattrick, Microsoft's senior VP for Interactive Entertainment Business, announced that the kit for games developers wanting to incorporate the technology into their future titles would be made available today.

“For us, this E3 is about breaking down barriers — between generations, between games and entertainment, and most important, between video game players and everyone else.”

The new body-motion controller is undoubtedly designed to appeal to a new generation of consumers who have been introduced to video games by Nintendo's Wii console, which has sold 50 million units worldwide, around 20 million more than the Xbox 360.

The Wii's perceived weakness is that its games tend to be short and uninvolving after several sessions. Microsoft is hoping that the superior graphics and processing power of the Xbox 360 will pull them in with a promise of a more immersive gaming experience.

Other announcements at the Xbox 360 briefing included a new series of applications built specially for the Xbox 360 to enable Facebook and Twitter users to communicate directly via the console.

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